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Revenge: A Love Story
USA 2014
produced by Chris McAninch, Thor Moreno, Shawn McAninch, Annette Duffy for Global View Productions
directed by Thor Moreno
starring Adam Meirick, Zack Williams, Shawn McAninch, Dave Dalton, Katie Goebel, John Kloppenborg, Daniel Selby, Jason Rainwater, Tim Petit
written by Thor Moreno, music by Rich Cantrell, Diane Foster (II), songs by Cirrus Minor, assistant directors: Annette Duffy, Michael Banks
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Narcotics agent Brad Miller (Adam Meirick) has long grown tired of the
undercover work he's usually assigned to, and especially his wife (Katie
Goebel) starts to take exception to it - but he's promised after doing one
last job he's getting the promotion he has long hoped for. That one last
job though is taking down legendary drug czar Willy Caesar (Zack Williams)
- a job that doesn't start out exactly promising. Quite the contrary,
actually, as he sees a fellow undercover agent shot dead before his very
eyes whom he then has to bury. But Miller is a clever man, and he manages
to climb up the ranks in Caesar's organisation in no time ... but not
without stepping on a few feet in the process, including Caesar's
right-hand man Nicky (Shawn McAninch), who is so upset about it that he
has Miller followed ... and it's not long before Miller's real identity is
found out ... Miller is driven into the country by Caesar's men, and
Caesar has arranged for Miller's wife to join the party - so he can shot
her dead before Miller's very eyes. Miller is strangled to
unconsciousness, then Caesar leaves it to two of his underlings (Dave
Dalton, John Kloppenborg) to kill and bury him. But Miller manages to
overcome them, and now he's out to get his revenge - and with everything
once dear to him gone, and having learned a lesson or two about
ruthlessness from those he goes after, the revenge promises to be gruesome
... Revenge: A Love Story is a very smartly constructed
little thriller, that at a running time of roughly 45 minutes doesn't
waste any time with unnecessary subplots or padding but does get to the
point very quickly and yet does feature a few surprise plottwists and many
an interesting narrative detail. And the finale, while very violent and
bleak, steers away from being just cynical, as the film never condones the
actions of its lead character (after all, he's partly to blame for the
situation he has gotten himself into), just chronicles them. Add to that a
directorial effort that avoids the sensationalism usually coming with this
kind of story, and a great ensemble cast, and you've got yourself a really
good movie. Recommended!
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